Modesto Children’s Museum should lower unreasonable $15 entry fee | Opinion
Family fun should be affordable
The new children’s museum in Modesto will be opening soon with a ticket price of $15. Children under 1 are free. I’d like to suggest the price be lowered to a more affordable rate. Modestans are struggling to pay rent. The City Council is raising our water rates 5% each year for the next four years. Garbage rates just went up. According to our mayor, 40% of families in Modesto live below the poverty line.
The kids of low-income earners deserve a chance to go to this museum, too. To charge $75 for two parents and three children to enter is way out of the financial range of so many people here. The Stockton Children’s Museum has an entry fee of $7 for kids and adults. Here in Modesto if you receive WIC benefits you get a reduced rate, however there are countless families that are just above the income limit for WIC, but still struggle to pay their rent and provide food for their kids.
Let’s give them a break. Make this something they and their kids can enjoy, too.
Gaetana Rohrer-Drake, Modesto
Safe camping needed
Re “Show some leadership, Modesto Council. Give safe camping a try.” (Page 1C, Aug. 27): The op-ed is right on. There are homeless people we see every day sleeping in our parks, alleyways, and on the streets. Currently, our unsheltered homeless are subjected to beating, rape, and robbery. The Point in Time count in January showed 441 people who were unsheltered in our city. Our shelters are full.
The unsheltered need to have safe places to sleep. It’s a humanitarian crisis and needs to be treated as such. People in the richest country in the world should not be unsheltered or at the least have a safe place to rest. Safe camping with wrap-around services gives the unsheltered an opportunity to get their lives together.
John Lucas, Modesto
Senior Center is community gem
Re “New senior center needed” (Letters, Sept. 10): I’d like to welcome the letter writer to visit the Modesto Senior Citizens Center on Bodem and Scenic to visit more than once. She criticized the location — across from a cemetery — and called it “outdated and depressing.” I have used the center four times a week since retiring six years ago. It is a vibrant community resource serving people of all races, cultures and economic status. The center is ably run by Shannon Parker and her staff who are always helpful and friendly. The Area Agency on Aging staffs trained volunteers who help keep seniors fit and able to live independently through Young at Heart classes, and the city of Modesto Parks and Recreation Department offers exercise classes, dancing, bingo and meals, among many other activities.
Perhaps the interior could use a coat of paint, but Shannon keeps it lively with ever-changing seasonal decorations. It is a treasure that many other cities would dearly love to be able to offer their citizens. I don’t know what I’d do without it.
Anita Young, Modesto
Keep events in Scene
We were surprised, and somewhat shocked, to discover that The Bee had removed the entire Events page from the Scene section of Friday’s newspaper. We always looked forward to reviewing that page every week, to learn about upcoming cultural and artistic events. Like other readers, we can get national and state news from other multiple sources, but there is nothing more valuable than a local newspaper like The Bee to supply us with news of events in our immediate community. The arts and civic events available to the public are vital features for any thriving city like Modesto.
That decision may reduce staff work hours, but it also seems like a surefire way to lose long-time subscribers, who had been willing to pay ever-increasing prices for the same daily product. We call upon other nonprofits and stakeholders to urge The Modesto Bee to continue making local news its top priority.
Salvatore and Barbara Salerno, Modesto
Biden boom? More like bust
Re “Why are so few celebrating Bidenomics’ 1st birthday?” (Page 3C, Sept. 10): I’m so glad Jackie Calmes of The LA Times informed me that Biden’s economy is actually wonderful and that the skyrocketing prices I’m paying for basic necessities since Biden took office are just a figment of my imagination. I can now relax knowing that although my bank account clearly shows that I’m paying significantly more and in some cases double what I was paying in the Trump years for food, gas, utilities, garbage pickup, clothing, yard care, repairs, TV service, insurance, pet food, veterinary care, haircuts, and what little entertainment I can afford, these backbreaking increases are only imaginary and induced by some Kool Aid I drank.
Obviously I’m being sarcastic. Do the Biden apologists like Jackie really think we don’t know what things cost, or do they assume that Biden’s base has believed so many of his other lies that they can bamboozle the rest of us into buying this malarkey about the economy as well?
Marian McNicol, Modesto
Impeach Biden
Re “Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy plays risky game” (Page 6A, Sept. 4): The hypocrisy of The Fresno Bee Editorial Board knows no end. The board accused Speaker Kevin McCarthy of playing politics with impeachment of Joe Biden. I wanted to laugh out loud. What about the two impeachments of Donald Trump? If those weren’t politically motivated then the sky isn’t blue. Joe Biden has committed high crimes by selling out our country to enrich his rotten family. He deserves to be impeached by the House and found guilty by the Senate and removed from office. I know the Senate won’t have the courage to convict Biden, but no one is more deserving.
Stan Lindsay, Modesto